Burj al-Sabi, the Crusader Watchtower below Margat

A square tower on top of a hill about 25 m high and 300 m long, right beside the Tartus–Latakia motorway and 2 km west of Margat (Marqab) Castle. It is built of basalt, stands two storeys high and has arrow slits cut into its walls. The Crusaders used it to complete Margat’s defences and to guard the castle’s small harbour on the coast.

Getting there

The tower is visible from the coastal motorway south of Baniyas, on the sea side of the road that climbs to Margat. It makes most sense as part of a visit to the castle. The slope facing the motorway slid in 2012, so leaving a car on the hard shoulder is a bad idea.

Why a tower here

Margat sits on a high headland 2 km inland. This tower filled the gap between the castle and the shore: it was the point that could see boats coming into the harbour. French sources mention a wall running down from Margat to the tower; how much of it can still be traced today is not clear from the sources.

When it was built

A firm date is hard to give. Arabic and French sources say both “the 11th century” and “about 200 years after Margat”, yet Margat’s first castle is itself dated to the 11th century, so the two statements do not agree. What can be said with confidence is that the tower served Margat as a lookout during the Crusader period.

Repairs and a sliding hillside

In the 1990s the Tartus antiquities department closed two large breaches in the walls. The 2001 restoration repaired the north and east walls, the arches and the roof, and fitted a lightning conductor. In April 2012 part of the hillside beside the motorway gave way, and a decision was taken to build a retaining wall on the slope under the tower. Six months later work had still not started; the sources do not say what happened next.

What most people miss

The story in the name. “Sabi” means “boy” in Arabic, and there are two local versions. In one, the son of a coastal king copied his father’s Margat and built this tower. In the other, Margat is the mother and the tower is her son. The 2001 restoration also turned up an odd find: a panel showing a brown fish in a blue pool.